All language subtitles for Life.Below.Zero.S02E18.The.Thaw.Ticking.Clock.720p.NF.WEB-DL

NARRATOR: On this episode
of Life Below Zero...

Alaskans battle the clock
to stockpile
for the coming winter.

I got two right here!

NARRATOR: A summer storm
threatens Sue Aikens' trade.

If I don't get the fuel,
the business of Kavik dies.

NARRATOR: Andy and Kate
struggle with a new challenge
on the Yukon.

That's pretty freaking
disappointing, man.

NARRATOR: The Hailstones chase
an elusive food source.

-Get it, baby girl!
-(GUNSHOT)

NARRATOR: And Glenn
protects his camp
from unwelcome guests.

There's something
on the hill there.

Oh, man! This is looking
pretty lonely this year.

(CHUCKLES)

(GROANS)

ANDY:
My clock's ticking right now.

I've got a lot to do
this summer.

I've got a lot that I've gotta
prepare for in the winter,

and one of those things
is putting up fish
for the winter.

Normally, we could just
stick our fish wheel in,

and by the end of the day
I'd probably have 50 pounds
or more of good human food.

And that's no longer
there for us.

The king salmon run has
declined to the point
where they've shut down

all king salmon fishing
on the Yukon River this year.

We've lost probably our
most consistent,

reliable source of protein
for the winter.

(CHOPPING)

This is gonna be kind
of an interesting experiment.

Right now, I'm trying
a new method of fishing.

It's with a fyke net.

A fyke net's basically
just a big funnel trap

with some wings out there
to try and funnel the fish in.

They go into the trap,
they can't find their way out,
and you capture them.

The advantage is
the fish are still alive.

So if you find one that
you don't want, you can
release it unharmed.

If a king salmon
gets in there,

I can let him go without,
without killing him.

That's the way I like
to see them cut.

I'm taking all the moose food.

That's not nice.

(LAUGHS)

ANDY: This method has been
used for 8,000 or 9,000 years

by indigenous people
around the world.

They didn't have nets,
and they didn't have wire,

and they didn't have plastic
floats 9,000 years ago.

So they made everything
out of wood.

It's something I've wanted
to try for a long time,

and the lack of king salmon
is kind of forcing me
to try this method out.

(THUNDER RUMBLING)

Trying to make
my first hoop here.

I'm using a barrel
for a template

just to try and get me
sort of round.

Basically
I'm making a big hoop.

I'm gonna make a slightly
smaller hoop, and then
start attaching my

willow strips to it.

I'm not really sure how strong
I need to make this,

but I think it's
one of those things
that the more I add to it,

the stronger it's gonna get.

You know, I've never made
a hoop trap before.

So much of living out here
is just drawing from
the experiences that you have.

So every new skill and every
new experience you have

gives you some other
foundation for the next thing
you wanna do.

And you'll be able to use it
for something else later on.

Although it's taking
a bunch of time right now,

the payoff might be
pretty good in the future,
I don't know.

I guess that's yet to be seen.
Be another experiment.

But, hey,
that's life on the Yukon.

Every year we gotta deal
with something.

Every year is about adapting.

All right.

So that's,
that's the main bulk of it.

It's a little bit thick
up here.

I might have to add a few
more thinner ones up here,
but that's all right.

It's just gotta hold fish.

It's not gonna be pretty,
but it'll work.

(LAUGHS)

SUE: Know in life
where your needs are,
where your wants are,

what your abilities are,
and kind of marry it up.

This is a heli-crew coming in.

They're gonna be working
out of here, and fuelling out
of here the next few days.

SUE: Hey, how are you doing?
RICK: Hey.

Oh, pretty good.

Do you wanna unload
your stuff and get
to get your rooms?

Might as well lighten up
the load a little bit.

SUE: Kavik is sort of
a twisted bed and breakfast.

During the summer people come.

Whatever your business
is in the Arctic,

I give you a place to sleep
and some food for your beak.

The majority of people want
a little bit of comfort,

and that's my
little niche here.

You can be in the wild
of the Arctic,

but yet have a trailer
and some creature comforts.

In the winter, not many people
are making it out here
to buy fuel or stay here,

but from the middle of June
through sometime in the middle
of September,

those are all the months that
I get to make the revenue
to keep this place profitable.

I mean, it is not inexpensive
to do what I do.

But you know, why do I do it?

To afford the style of life
I wanna live
the rest of the year.

You know, if I work
my ass off for three months,

then I got nine months
I can play and live.

So it's a fair enough trade.

NARRATOR: For Sue Aikens,

the arrival of clients
in Kavik means she must get
vital resources into camp

or risk losing
crucial revenue.

SUE: One of the most elemental
things I need to have
available is water.

I have to get water out
of the river and pumped
in through the system.

I'm gonna head down
to the river.

I wanna see what the water,
what the river
is looking like.

I must have a clearer water
to pump into my water system.

The major problem for me,

this has been just, um,
atypically wet spring
and summer.

All the rain,
all this deluge,
the water hits the tundra,

and it all wants to live
at the lowest point
which is the rivers.

But it churns it up,
and that has kept me
from being able to pump.

Yeah, this is not,
this is not
looking good at all.

Can't really pump that, and
it's not even real safe to get
too close to the edge,

'cause it's undercutting
my bank.

That current is real swift.

And that's a big old pile
of mud.
I'll continue to check it.

As soon as I see that I can
at least read through it
with no problems,

and not have dirt, you know,
then I'll be pumping it.

It's a done deal, loose wheel.
Check it again tomorrow.

GLENN: What goes
through the mind,
the stream of consciousness,

how you feel, how you
experience reality each day

is affected by the spaces
you occupy.

Bear came along and ripped up
my sod house again.

Bears seem to be attracted
to this place.

Every now and then they'll
come and of course it smells
like food in there.

I've had meat
hanging in there,

and the bears will come
and rip the place up
when I'm away from camp.

So it's something that is
a continuous thing.

This sod house works out
pretty well for storing food
most of the time.

But I thought that for smaller
amounts of food,

if I just dug a hole straight
down into the ground,
a smaller hole,

it might actually keep it
even cooler than
this sod house does.

And also, the bears
might be less interested
in digging into it.

I'm looking around
for a spot to put
this little refrigerator,

and the main thing
I'm thinking about
is convenience.

I wanna be able to go
in and out of it easily.

So I could put it right here
in the front yard somewhere.

The problem with this though
is the sun is to the south
during the day,

and it'll be beating down
on this hole.

I'd rather have it in
a place that's shaded.

So I'm thinking if I put it
on the north side
of the cabin,

that might be the best spot.

If I dig the hole right here,

during the middle of the day
it'll be in the shade.

That might be
the best spot for it.

NARRATOR: Isolated
in the Brooks Range,

Glenn relies on 10 years
of experience to survive

the Arctic's predators
and gruelling weather.

Without access to power tools,

he must build each structure
in camp with the resources
around him.

GLENN: In the summer
it can get up into the 80s
here sometimes.

I've seen it 85 degrees.

Cooler ground is going to
help me to preserve food.

It's just like putting it
in a refrigerator.

The gravely soil
is well drained.

I should be able to dig down
in here a few feet
without getting wet.

That feels nice
and cool down here.

Got a nice sized hole.
Onto the next step.

So, I'm looking for some
spruce trees in order to line
my refrigerator with them,

and a lot of the trees
around here
just aren't suitable.

If I use trees
that are too big,

it's gonna take up a lot
of space in that hole
that I dug.

If they're too small,

think of how many I'll need
to build the height
of the wall.

So this is the happy medium.

One I can reach around
about that big.
That's a good-sized tree.

If I wanted to run
a modern refrigerator
or freezer out here,

I'd have to have propane or
I'd have to have gasoline

to run a generator
all the time
and produce electricity.

I don't wanna get into those
complicated systems.

This is just simple.
It serves my needs.
Why get more complicated?

CHIP: We're always thinking
about the future.

You know, you wanna
stock things up.

You wanna prepare yourself
for later life.

All that stuff.
You watch your kids grow.

You think about the things
you wanna accomplish,
and you work towards them.

But you know,
we live in today.

We enjoy every day for today.

Carol, you gotta get you
a weapon of your choice.

NARRATOR: Chip
and Agnes Hailstone

spend their summers
in Kiwalik,
harvesting meat for the winter

and teaching their daughters
native hunting methods
critical at this time of year.

There's not very many ducks
or geese flying,

so they must be moulting.

So, we're gonna go out and go

take a walk towards the lakes
and ponds back there,

and go see
what the birds are doing.

CHIP: The summertime
the females are off
raising their babies,

and the males all fly
to lakes and stuff.

When they moult,
their feathers are coming out,
they're growing new ones.

They're flightless
for about maybe a week or so.

They're grouped up
for mutual protection.

It gives a chance of getting
a bunch of ducks at one time.

The thing is that birds leave.

They migrate south and we
don't see them till maybe
next May, next June.

So it doesn't give us
much time to get at 'em.

Whoo! Watch out, pup. Sorry!

AGNES: We're not gonna
use any firearms,

but I am gonna carry some
in case the bears or other
animals come around.

But we're gonna take our clubs
and our paddles.

CHIP: Whack it.
This is a harpoon.

If there's a duck or
something, I can spear it
or I can whack it.

Yep, beat it in the head.

This is actually
a legal way to hunt.

It's way cheaper
to do a hunt this way.

We don't have to use any ammo
or anything but our energy
to try to catch them.

-Shall we?
-Yup.

Come on, puppy dog.
Let's go.

CHIP: These are big mud flats.
This is where the valley
meets the ocean.

It's a little deep here,
girls.

This is swampy, mushy, marshy.
This is a very difficult walk.
Climb aboard.

Ugh!

CHIP: There's a lot
of places where
the moss is really deep.

There's a lot of places where
the mud is really deep.

People trip,
twist their ankles,
fracture their ankles.

All kinds of bad things
can happen on this tundra

when you're walking it
with heavy loads.

So you try to take it
as light as possible.

AGNES: We reached the lakes,
Qutan.

You gotta keep you girls' eyes
open for ducks now and stuff.

CHIP: Why don't you guys
get on that side,

and I'll go along this edge
and see what I can knock out.

Try not to go too far ahead.

Just don't shotgun...

-Good luck.
-Yup.

CHIP: Good luck, ladies.

Just baby ducks.

AGNES: There goes puppy.

I've been watching
the puppy dog, and it's been
running all over the place,

and I haven't seen it scare
any birds or ducks up yet.

So, we're just gonna keep
going around the lake.

CHIP: There's a bunch
of ducks. Oh, right there.

Keep walking. Keep walking.

Now.

CHIP: Get it!
Hit it again!

You got it. Get it.

Just reach down
and grab it with your hand.

Hurry up!
It's getting away.

-Grab it before it go.
-Hurry up! Grab it!
It's not gonna hurt you!

AGNES: Oh, get him.

Ooh!

CHIP: Just wring its neck.
AGNES: That's called
cup of soup.

We got a cup of soup.

We always call them when
they're small like that.

They're just right for just
a cup of soup, but that's
Carol's first one.

So, we'll get to have some
real good soup broth later.

Right on, Carol.

Got a duck without
a shotgun shell.

Carol's duck.

That's how you girls
have to do it.

CHIP: Carol got herself
a duck sight unseen.

I pointed it out to her,
and she, she whacked it.

Did a good job, too,
of bringing it in.

So, I was pretty happy
with that.

We'll flip the duck up
in the rafter and save it
till we get some more.

One little duck ain't
gonna feed nobody.

Yeah, one duck is not gonna
feed all of us, huh?

CHIP: Nope. That's all right.
It's a start.

We'll get a couple more
ducks tomorrow maybe.

GLENN: To be
connected to nature.

It's just fascinating
all the stuff that's going on

when you start
paying attention.

Every year
I learn something new.

(SAWING)

NARRATOR: In order to
preserve his food

and keep it safe from
predators and the elements,

Glenn must use the resources
surrounding his camp to build
a new refrigeration unit.

GLENN: I like variety.

I would not get into
the business of digging
refrigerator holes

repetitively for a living,

but if I only have to build
one in my lifetime,
it's a lot of fun.

Needs to be a little longer.

I can put five gallon
buckets in there.

I can probably fit four
of them in there.

Berries, fish, whatever
I wanna put down in there.

Meat, it's gonna stay much
cooler on hot days.

And that's gonna help me
to keep food longer.

I think that's gonna do it.

That's high enough
for the walls.

Now that I've got
the walls in,

the next thing I need to do
is put a covering on it.

I need some kind of lid that
I can open and close
relatively easily,

but that is going to insulate
and keep the warm air out
and the cold air in.

These started out as tepee
poles, 14 years ago
I cut them.

Then I shortened them to make
a tent that I could use
in the winter.

Now I'm gonna cut them again,
and I'm gonna use them as part
of my refrigerator lid.

I wouldn't know the materials
if I just bought them
in a store.

I would describe it as a more
intimate relationship with
the things that I'm using.

They don't come from
some far off distant place.
I know their history.

I watch the trees
grow around me.

I watch the lake every day.
I watch the animals I eat.

That'll be the lid
right there.

I just need to get
some insulation.

I'll get a nice, thick piece
of moss to put
over the top of this.

I'll cut it right here,
and I'll be able
to just lift that up.

I'm gonna go grab some moss.

This looks like a nice patch
of moss right here.

I just want it approximately
the right size.

It's not easy
to find good moss,

because there are a lot
of roots and trees
in the ground.

I want a one continuous piece
for that door.
A nice thick piece.

It's all attached
at the bottom by roots.
So I have to dig.

(GRUNTS)

Out here you don't have
to try to stay in shape.

The way I live without
machinery, there's no choice.

All I have to do is
try it on for size.

Should fit right in there.

Got my refrigerator.

That should work great.

ANDY: Most people
don't wanna change until
they're forced to change,

and we're being
forced to change.

So, you can't cry about it.

You just gotta get out there
and do what you can,
and try and get by.

That's what life out
in the bush is all about.

-Let's go catch some fish!
-Yee-haw!

NARRATOR: With salmon fishing
closed on the Yukon,

Andy and Kate Bassich
are trying a new fish trap

to stock up enough food
before the freeze
overtakes the river.

We're gonna take this fyke
trap four miles downriver
to a slough.

I'm gonna set it in this
slough to try and avoid
catching king salmon.

King salmon do not travel up
these back sloughs.

Especially a dead end slough.

So this is the habitat that
a lot of pike, whitefish,
and sheefish live in.

So, that's where
I'm gonna go after 'em.

Let me go find
the deepest spot.

I think right here would
probably be a good place
for the cod end.

Why don't you take the wings,
and just hold the wings out,
out there.

We'll get them
untangled later.

In we go.

Now the question is,
is it gonna float or not?

It's gonna need a little bit
of downward pressure.

Nothing's gonna get by
the pike slayer.

(LAUGHS)

ANDY: Okay,
I think we're set, babe.

ANDY: What do you think?
KATE: I think it looks great.

I think this'll work
pretty good.

See, it looks like the Yukon's
pushing in a little bit
right now. See it?

Certainly anything coming into
the slough isn't gonna
get by it. That's for sure.

I'll check it tomorrow
morning, and if it's
catching fish... Yee-haw.

I don't mind putting work in
as long as I'm gonna have

long-term benefits
from that work.

It makes all that hard work
that you put
into living this way,

uh, have some meaning,
and it's a payoff.

What do you think?

-Four fish.
-(LAUGHS)

I'm not gonna even bet today.
I got a feeling.

We're gonna catch
something today.

Water is up today.

Looks like it came up
about six inches last night.

So I'm hoping that's
gonna push some fish
into this slough.

We're hoping for,
I don't know,
half a dozen maybe.

But I'll be happy with
one or two just to make sure
that the trap is working.

Here fishy, fishy.

KATE: My fingers crossed.
(MIMICS FANFARE)

Nothing in this end.

There is something
in the back, isn't there?

-No, that's the,
that's the bait.
-Oh, that's the bait.

Yeah, I don't think
we got anything, Kate.

I'm wondering if they're
getting out of the trap here.

'Cause we should...
We should've caught something.

Nope.

It's a bust.

(LAUGHS)

That's pretty frickin'
disappointing, man.

I'm wondering
if they're getting out.

I don't think I made it
tight enough or whatever.

KATE: So, what do we do?
Bring it home, work on it?

Yeah, maybe I ought
to just bring it home.

Here, let me...

Let me pull
the rest of this stuff

and go back and spend
more time on this.

As much as I don't really
feel like putting the time
into this right now,

I've pretty much
gotta do it.

Time is precious for us
in the summertime.

I got so many projects
I gotta get going on.

That's why I'm feeling
a little agitated.

Summers are just
too short here.

There's just too much to do.

SUE: It's a land of extremes.

If you are a person
that needs to maintain
the illusion of control,

you're not gonna do
well out here at all.

Well, it's definitely, uh...
Well, it's summertime.

It just doesn't feel like it.

I mean, this is the typically
atypical weather
on the north slope.

The only thing you can
count on is the fact that
you can't count on anything.

Been a really, really,
really wet summer.

And Mother Nature turned on
the AC today.

So this, this definitely

is getting in the way, again,

of me being able to get
a fuel delivery, you know.

I'm out here at the fuel shed

trying to get ready for it
to come in, and the weather
came in instead.

The plane had
to be turned around,

and they're gonna call it
for the whole weekend.

So, I'm just
kind of boned again.

I've really got to start
getting concerned.

You know,
I'm still selling fuel.

I'm now getting
to the point where

I have to get the fuel
or these planes aren't gonna
be able to fly.

It's not so much that,
you know,

if I don't get the fuel,
I'm gonna die.

If I don't get the fuel,
the business of Kavik dies.

It's that integral to
the survival of the business.

It's been a couple
of weeks since I've been able
to pump water.

So I need to get down
to the river,

and if it's clear enough
at all, you know,

then I can pump
and get back up to full speed.

It's looking better than
it has for a few days.

It's certainly not ready
to pump,

but it's looking a lot better.

That's actually
not bad at all.
I can filter that.

We should probably pump.

(MOTOR STARTING)

Kind of works out for them
some of the time,

but there's a misperception
that they have some control
over what happens.

In Alaska, we will all
down to a T,

say that weather is king.

It controls what we can hunt,
what's in the area,

whether you can get water
or you can't get water.

Every aspect of your life
is governed by
what the whims of nature are.

You take it as it comes.

So, now that it's pumping,

I can go anywhere on this line
and feel it running.

Now it's time to go back in.

See where it's at
in my initial tank.

This is what I wanna see.

So, it's gone
through the main filter.

As it's coming in,
another filter here.
Three filters there.

Inline injected
parts per billion
on the chlorine additive.

Into the tank.

When you have the chance,
you grab your liquid gold.

90% of the revenue I need
to make is gonna be in
the next four to six weeks,

and if I can't give them
the services they've come
to expect,

I'm not gonna make
that revenue.

So, this is, uh...
This is definitely
a feather in my cap.

CHIP: We're always thinking
about the future,

and saving food for tomorrow.

You know, you can't hold onto
it like money in the bank.

You gotta let it go.
It all disappears.

It's a consumable commodity.

So, we're always looking
for more.

AGNES: So, you guys wanna just
get ready and go
do this again? Qutan?

Go find more ducks and all?

This is another day
in the life.

But today I think we're gonna
go look for ducks again.

If we wanna get some ducks,
we just gotta find
a nice bunch of 'em.

It's not always easy.

Certainly every pond doesn't
have a duck,

and there's thousands
of ponds here.

This is
a tidal flats down here.

So, ducks shift from area
to area as they feed,

but we're gonna find where
there's a big group
of 'em somewhere.

Gotta be a big group
of 'em somewhere.

Ready, kiddo?

Come grab your harpoon.

-Try not to bend
those, baby girl.
-Okay.

CHIP: Bye-bye, puppy.
Too bad you can't come.

You scare away too many ducks.

CHIP: Come on, kiddos.
You ready?

AGNES: Even though we're
kind of sore and tired

from walking yesterday
all along the lakes and stuff,

we're still gonna go
do this again today.

'Cause we have just
a short limited time
we can actually do this

while the ducks and birds
are all moulting

and they can't fly
and get away from us.

So, we're just gonna
keep on walking
sloughs and lakes

and just hopefully
come across a flock of birds.

What do you see over there?

CHIP: I think I see ducks,

but I don't know what kind.
So, gonna go have a look.

AGNES: Yee!

(QUTAN SPEAKING)

AGNES: Feathers?

(QUTAN SPEAKING)

AGNES: Yeah. Moulting ducks.

AGNES: We're getting close.
Let's keep going.

What they do is just
keep running, trying
to get away from us,

and we have to really
keep moving.

They're a little excited,
but hopefully the birds
will calm down

and we'll have another chance
at getting some.

AGNES: Oh, they're
coming to us.

They are? Where?

-They're right there!
-Right where?

AGNES: They're coming
out of the water.

CHIP: Oh, man! There's loads
of 'em over there.
AGNES: They're coming to us.

I see 'em.
They're really watching us.

So how we gonna do this?

You go wide this way.

Me and Carol will go wide
this way if you take Qutan.

Just keep minds
on where we are,

-and do some good
shotgunning, huh?
-Yeah.

Yep. Don't be afraid
to use that shotgun.

Me and Carol will block off
the rest on the way

and we'll whack them
with our sticks.

Come, Qutan. Ducks are moving.

We gotta get down low
and start getting over there.

(CAROL SPEAKING)

CHIP: Let's go.

AGNES: Yeah, they're just
hiding in the grass
someplace around here.

Get it, baby girl!

AGNES: Into the water!
You got it!
You're stepping on it!

It turned.
(EXHALES)

Chased that one and it got
to the drink before me.

And I don't swim
as good as a duck.

So I chucked a harpoon at it
and missed it again. So...

Such is life.

CHIP: Well, we'll just
keep on going.

-(CHIP SPEAKING)
-AGNES: Oh!

CHIP: Come on, baby girl!
Right there.

Hurry!

Yeah, get him in the head.
Only in the head.

That's a good job, Carol.

AGNES: There's one.

(SIGHS)

AGNES: Oh, there's another.

(FIRING)

Baby, stop!
Right in front of you.

Right there!

Okay, hit it. There you go,
good job.

Break its neck.

-I got two right here.
-(GUN FIRES)

(SIGHS)
I got it.

-I got one, Dad!
-Good job, girl!

(CLEARS THROAT) I got
one more right here
coming directly at me.

(GUN FIRING)

I got it.

These are fat geese.

Hey, Qutan, what's going on?
Did you round any up?

I tried to over there.

-Oh, did they get away?
-Yep.

It's all teamwork.
Even though my daughter
Qutan didn't kill one,

she was making her presence
by running back and forth

and the geese didn't want
to go to her.

So it made them lay down
and me and Carol were able
to go catch them.

(AGNES SIGHS)

All right.

(SIGHS)

-Right on.
-Over here, baby.

Oh, yeah,
we did quite a bundle.

Quite the collection.

-I would say this is enough
for today, even for tomorrow.
-Yeah.

Yeah, this is about all
we can carry home.

CHIP: I'm pretty happy
for my daughters.

They're gonna learn where
to go get food when
there's no birds flying,

maybe no fish in their net.

Right now, there's
no caribou around,

and if they need something,
I wanted them to know where
to start looking

and where to end up.

You girls know this place now,
you'll never fail
if you come here.

Yep. You girls ready?

You got a long walk.

A happy one, we get
to go home and pluck geese
and eat dinner.

CHIP: We didn't
find male ducks,
we found geese.

Geese with no babies.
And the geese
that have no babies,

or lost their babies,
or maybe didn't have
any this year

were all grouped up together
for mutual protection.

Nine.

And these were rather
bulky and big

and they're just so big
they couldn't hide so well,

so we had much better luck.

Fourteen.

(EXHALES)

Now that was a good haul.
A real good dinner.

Well, that will make
some jars of geese

and we can eat a couple,
three or four fresh.

We'll eat a couple of these
and we'll have about 10 good
jars of geese.

Since we don't have any
in the freezer
for this winter,

we'll save those aside
to make a huge pot
of goose soup

out of these and then jar up
the goose soup.

-Good job girls.
-Yeah.

You could go on ahead
and take your socks off.

Yep, go take your socks off
and dry out.

There's no store out here.
We ain't got no money,

but this is a store
and this is what was
in the aisle today.

We just had a good time.
I'm pretty happy with my kids.

GLENN: Spruce tree turns
the sunlight into needles

and the grouse turns
the needles into meat for me.

It's like a cycle.
That's what I'm into.

Part of the big cycle.

Right here this is where
I'll start walking looking
for the berries.

NARRATOR:
High in the Brooks Range,

Glenn has a brief opportunity
to gather berries

before winter
overtakes the land.

I like to walk on
these low ridges
that are drier,

gravelly soil.

Less brush, easier walking.

Hey, this looks like
some mushrooms
I can eat right here.

There are other mushrooms
that look very similar to this
that are poisonous.

But this one has
an orange-ish colour,

and when I break it I can tell

that that's the type
I'm looking for.

Something else I can take back
and stick in the fridge.

Oh, here's a nice patch
of blueberries right here.

Some good enough berries here
to stop and pick for a while.

With this berry picker,
I can pick faster.

There are a lot of different
plants that you can eat,

but there are some plants
out here that can kill you
if you eat them.

So you wanna know which ones
are edible and which ones
are poisonous.

What's that?

There's something
on the hill there.

I'll have closer look
with my rifle.

Something up there
moving through the trees.

I'm not sure what it is.

It's brown.

It's a moose.

Yeah, I can see now
it's a moose.

It's always a good idea
to keep an eye on something
like that though,

'cause there are bears around.

Still another month until
I hunt moose.

Moose season's later
in the fall.

I got a couple gallons
of berries now.

I'm gonna head back to camp
and on the way
I'll be canoeing,

I can do some fishing.

There might be some pike
or some whitefish along
the way I can catch.

This is just
a small lake way up
in the mountains.

I'm a long, long ways
from the ocean.

So I don't get fish migrating
into this lake from the ocean.

I live mostly on moose meat
and caribou out here.

I have a fish once in a great
while for variety. I like it.

I got something.

There.

I'm gonna keep fishing
because the fish are biting.

When you're up in
the mountains a long ways
from the ocean,

it's not the same kind
of fishing you get

when you're
in a big river system

where the fish are going
in and out to the ocean.

Getting some food
for the fridge.

One way to get a refrigerator
is to go to the store
and buy it,

bring it home,
plug it in to electricity,
you got your refrigerator.

What I had to do here,
I dug a hole,

lined it with spruce trees,

found myself a piece of moss
that will insulate
for the lid.

It was an experiment.
I never built
a refrigerator before.

I'm really happy with the way
this turned out.

What a way to live, you know?

Go out and pick my fruit
in the forest,

catch my fish in the lake.

I prefer it to any restaurant
in the world.

ANDY: Consistent access
to the resources
is our insurance

out here in the bush.

You take that away from us
and it really
affects our lives

directly and immediately.

I'm trying to figure out
how the heck I'm gonna
do this. (LAUGHS)

Without taking the whole
bloody thing apart, you know?

NARRATOR: Andy and Kate's,
new fish trap has failed
to yield any fish.

They must repair it if
they hope to harvest

enough food for themselves
this winter.

I gotta add... I gotta add
more willows in here,
obviously. Right?

If they came through here,
they could get out here.

I just didn't get
them close enough together.

Clock's ticking,
fall's just around the corner,

and basically we haven't
put up any fish.

And that's a real big concern
for me.

Like that size?

It doesn't matter.
Even smaller than that
will work probably for me.

For every king salmon
I used to catch, I now have
to catch about 10 pike.

And that's turning out to be
not as easy as I thought
it would be.

Okay. I think we
got everything, huh?

-Okay. I think we're fishing.
-Okay.

Check it tomorrow,
swear some more tomorrow

(LAUGHING)
when it doesn't have
any fish in it.

Tomorrow morning there's
no betting on whether
we get any fish or not.

-No. We won't even...
We won't even discuss it.
-(LAUGHING)

It's undisturbed.

-Well, it's still underwater.
-Yeah.

That's a good sign.
All right.

Let's see what we got.

KATE: I think so. No.

Negatory, it looks like.

Son of a bitch!

Well, this is obviously
not producing at all.

And we're spending
a lot of time and gasoline

and we're not getting
a damn thing out of this.

I'm kind of baffled as to
why I'm not catching
fish right now, here.

I mean, I've got
it completely closed off

so anything coming in,
it's gotta come in here.

I can't, I can't imagine
the fish are going in
and then coming back out.

So for some reason we're
just not getting them here.

We know there are fish at
the mouth, right at the mouth.

We know they travel along
the edges, right?

So let's just give that a shot
and see what happens.

I've been fishing it for days
and so far I haven't
caught anything.

So I don't know
if it's my design,

or if there just aren't
any fish here.

I'm feeling a little bit
stressed out right now

because we're putting
a lot of time into fishing

and we're
not getting anything.

I'm gonna keep trying.

NARRATOR: Andy and Kate,
have repaired
and moved their fish trap.

But with winter approaching,

they cannot afford another day
without a catch.

Doesn't look good.

-Nothing?
-I don't see anything
in this one, Kate.

-(SCOFFS)
-There's no fish left
in the Yukon, I guess.

Well, this is a waste of time.

Waste of time,
waste of effort,
waste of everything.

-I don't get it.
-I don't get it either.

It should pick up something.

This is the most effort
I've ever put into fishing

with zero results
in my entire life.

It's a tough lesson to learn,
you know, and that's a part

of trying anything
new out here.

Trying to develop
new methods and go for
a different resource,

there's a learning curve.

And right now
my learning curve is kind of
on the negative side.

And I don't really like that.
I'm not a person that really
likes to fail at things.

I don't mind experimenting
and having some
minor failures,

but I don't like it when I try
something and put a
bunch of time into it

and it's a complete
waste of my time.

It looks like probably
what's gonna end up happening
for Kate and I

is fall time's gonna come,

that's gonna be
a really critical moment

for us to make sure
that we get fall chum salmon.

So we're gonna pray that
that run is good
enough for us to fish.

And I think I'm gonna
be hunting moose, and caribou,
and black bears

a whole lot more
'cause it's looking like

we're not gonna have much fish
for the wintertime.

SUE:
Bam! Like that, things change.

If you can't roll with
the punches,

you know, don't get
in the boxing ring then.

PILOT OVER RADIO:
How's it going over there?

Uh, we have fog down
to the ground.

Half to one-mile
visibility right now.

Better to the south
and the east.

Okay, sounds good.

I'll ship you with a load.

NARRATOR: An unusual
summer storm has prevented
Sue's fuel delivery.

With more clients
set to arrive,

getting fuel into camp
is crucial to Sue's business.

Trying to get
the fuel delivery in

and just kept getting boned
by the weather.

But we cleared up,
the ceiling got nice,

they launched and in between
then and now

we've come back down
to the ground in fog.

PILOT:
Okay, be up, uh, right over
your place right now.

I can hear you.

As you go around let me know
what you're thinking
so I can help out.

The plane just radioed in.
He's going overhead now.

He's gonna try to find a hole
to come through.

If not, he'll have to detour

and go to Deadhorse
and wait it out.

PILOT: I think I'm gonna be
coming around and take
a landing to the east.

All right, buddy.

Sounds like he's gonna try it.

Looks like he's smiling.

(ENGINE SHUTTING OFF)

Hey, buddy.

What do we got
on board right now?

-Jet-A. Yeah.
-Jet-A first?

Okay.

You know, this fuel
that I'm getting now is,
it's absolutely key

to me being able
to make my revenue.

This next six weeks is
when I see
the heaviest concentration

of the small planes
coming in and doing
their thing.

So if I'm not able to get
all of the loads I need,

I would not be in the black
and I would not have
a lease any more.

Kavik would be a memory.

Right as the fuel came in,
bam, there's the helicopter
that needs it.

He's gonna use
about 1,500 gallons
in the next three days.

That's half
of what I just got.

You know,
jet fuel delivered,
jet fuel out.

You know, that's,
that's the nature
of the business.

As soon as I get it, man,
they're after it.

So how much is that little pig
gonna drink today
do you think?

-64.1.
-64.1.

Yep, ready to do business,
and then ready for winter.

(SUE CHUCKLES)